The South Korean hit monster movie The Host
Best Director went to Jia Zhangke for his work in Still Life (which won the Golden Lion at the 2006 Venice Film Festival). And Nakatani Miki took home the Best Actress award for her role as a hopeless romantic in Memories of Matsuko.
And here is an interesting article on the goings on at the festival which was attended by superstars like Rain and Michelle Yeoh and director Luc Besson:
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/179037.asp ;-)
Tags: Asian Film Awards, The Host, Still Life, Memories Of Matsuko, Rain, Nakatani Miki.
The Host Wins Big At Asian Film Awards
Endless Remakes of Louis Cha's Novels ... Sigh...
When I found out that there will be another remake of the swordfighting novel Legend Of The Condor Heroes (LOCH) by Louis Cha or Jin Yong, I shook my head in disbelief. Why? Because the novel was adapted into a 40+ episode mainland drama serial starring Li Ya Peng and Zhou Xun (of Perhaps Love fame) in 2003, just 4 years ago! And it was also made into drama serials in 1994 (with Athena Chu and Julian Cheung), in 1982 (with Barbara Yung and Felix Wong) and a long time ago in 1976 (with Michelle Yim in the title role of Wong Yung or Huang Rong).
A total of 5 times if I include the current remake which stars mainland actor Hu Ge as Guo Jing and Taiwanese sweetie pie Ariel Lin as Huang Rong, and this is not counting the movie and anime adaptations :-P
In fact, not only LOCH, practically all of Jin Yong's novels have been remade numerous times.
Actually I cannot understand why the directors and TV stations keep remaking the same novels time and time again, don't they understand the law of diminishing returns? I know a good story is hard to come by but I am not sure if viewers like to watch the same story over and over again...
Anyway, here are pics of the the latest incarnation of the main characters of LOCH, the super smart Huang Rong (Ariel Lin) and the dumb but upright Guo Jing (Hu Ge).
[pictures from spcnet forum: http://www.spcnet.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=15272&page=1&pp=20]
Tags: Chinese drama serial, swordfighting drama series, condor heroes, LOCH, gongfu drama, Jin Yong, Louis Cha, Wuxia.
Clip From The Departed's Asian Cousin - Infernal Affairs
After watching Oscar Best Picture The Departed a few days ago, I can't help but notice the striking similarities between this movie and the Hong Kong movie Infernal Affairs. But of course they are similar -The Departed is an adaptation of Infernal Affairs. Silly me haha.
I think The Departed is a really fantastic movie but since I watched it after I watched Infernal Affairs, the remake can never really match up to the original... Because while I was watching Leonardo DiCaprio acting as the undercover cop, I was thinking of Tony Leung and while I was watching Matt Damon, I can't help comparing him with Andy Lau... Especially in the second half of the movie when many of the scenes were so similar.
For example, this scene (one of the most powerful moments in the movie) that I found from Youtube:
Remember how it was shot in The Departed? I actually preferred this version over the one in The Departed, somehow I just felt more pathos here especially with the great background score and the flashbacks.
Enjoy the clip. And watch Infernal Affairs if you have not done so, it really is a great movie :-)
Technorati tags: The Departed, Infernal Affairs, Best Picture, Oscar, Academy Award, Hong Kong movie, Tony Leung.
